More tranquil weather and nice temperatures mid-week

It was another glorious mid-October day weather-wise across Central and Eastern Kentucky as the quiet pattern stayed in place, After starting the morning with cool readings in the upper 40s, temperatures rebounded nicely once again with afternoon highs back in the low to mid-70s. A stiff northeast wind actually slowed the warming process down a bit so temperatures underachieve for highs as a result. The good news is that it definitely felt pleasant even with the wind if you were out in the direct sunlight during the heart of the day.

The dry conditions should persist into the day on Wednesday but a weak frontal boundary dropping through the commonwealth should provide a few scattered clouds as it moves through although plenty of sunshine is expected as well. The biggest impact the front will have is to bring a reinforcing shot of milder air to the Ohio Valley so as a result we should trim a few degrees off of afternoon highs. It will still be a very pleasant day as temperatures reach the low-70s, which is just above average for this time of year.

High pressure will build into the Great lakes on Thursday, pushing cooler and drier air back in the Bluegrass. Look for more sunshine and afternoon highs into the upper 60s to around 70 degrees thanks to a northeast wind. This “milder” air will be brief as the area of high pressure slides to the east very quickly on Friday, allowing a return flow to kick in. The end of the week looks delightful with more sunshine, a nice south breeze and afternoon highs jumping back into the mid-70s which means another Friday evening with nearly ideal conditions for high school football as the final few weeks of the regular season approach.

A fairly strong cold front will move in from the west on Saturday and the big question is the timing of the expected rain and storms associated with it. First and foremost, Saturday will be a breezy and warm day with a strong southwest wind pushing afternoon highs all the way toward the 80 degree mark! That should be nice for tailgating ahead of the Kentucky/Texas game at Kroger Field on Saturday evening. As we’ve mentioned the model data isn’t synced up with the timing of the arrival of the rain/storms but at this point it looks like the best window will be Saturday and into Sunday. That being said, you’ll want to take the rain gear along if you are heading to the game or for any activity Saturday night as a few isolated showers and storms can’t be ruled out.

The best dynamics for strong to severe storms should remain out to our west plus an overnight arrival would cut down on the overall severe threat. We are looking at a good 1″-2″ rainfall potential with this system, along with some cooler air to follow as afternoon highs back down into the upper 60s into early next week.